Higham, Colchester, Suffolk

This Grade II listed timber-framed house dates from the seventeenth century and was for many years the village post office. It is said to feature in John Constable's 1804 painting 'The Stour Valley from Higham'. The rendered front, under a steeply pitched plain tiled roof with a red brick stack, keeps the single-storey projection and shop window from its post office days.

The sitting room is arranged around a large brick inglenook fireplace with a wood-burning stove, with the dining room on the other side of the central stack. The family room at the front, with the original shop window, makes a lovely study or snug. The farmhouse-style kitchen has a large range cooker with gas hob and room for a breakfast table, and there is a cloakroom with utility space.

The first floor has exposed timbers and original oak floors throughout. The principal bedroom has an open fireplace and connects with a second bedroom, and there is a third bedroom and a family bathroom with a bath and shower over.

Across the courtyard, a detached single-storey brick annexe provides a fourth bedroom with its own shower room and double doors to the garden, ideal for guests or visiting family.

The enclosed rear garden has a paved terrace and lawned areas, and there is driveway parking beside the house.

Agent's Note: The floors are original and uneven throughout, and there is a large step down into the family room. The front porch was damaged by a vehicle earlier this year. Repairs are in hand, and we would be happy to discuss this in more detail.

Higham is a small village in the Dedham Vale, in the heart of Constable Country, within easy reach of Colchester and Ipswich, with mainline stations at Manningtree and Colchester. The house would suit a main home or a country retreat equally well.

It has also been let successfully as a holiday cottage through a specialist agency and is well reviewed, currently rated 4.91 out of 5 on Airbnb. The property is assessed for business rates as a self-catering unit rather than council tax, with a rateable value of £3,500, so a buyer continuing to let it may qualify for small business rate relief. Letting figures are available to seriously interested parties on request. A buyer intending to occupy the house as a home would need to apply for it to be assessed for council tax.